Ballistic Fab is a joke

[Chevy1925]

Went on line three weeks ago to buy 6 jonny joints, jam nuts, threaded bungs and 6 poly bushings and sleeves to the total of 600 bucks to build three traction bar setups for me, brian, and steve. Well i get an email two days after i buy everything (mind you they charged my card the day i bought it all) saying some stuff is on back order. I send two emails through out the following week asking what what exactly is on back order so i can change it so i can get my stuff. hear nothing back. So i call last monday asking what items are on backorder. i spend 10 min on hold for the guy to figure out my order (how is it that hard??). he says the 3/4" stuff is on back order but they have the 7/8ths stuff in stock and i can upgrade to that for no charge (well its no charge to upgrade either way if you order it online). He says it will ship wednesday or thrusday. I see no email by thursday still if my order left so i call friday mornin. the guy never changed my order over!!!!! so i spend another 15 min on hold while another guy runs around behind the phone to get my stuff pulled and ready for shipping (all i could guess hes doin since it shouldnt take that long to change my order on the computer). So i call back today to see where my order is again. spend another 15min on hold for the guy to tell me its in shipping but cant give me a tracking number yet. If i dont recieve a tracking number tonight, its all getting cancelled. this is total BS

I know im ranting but hell!!!! I usually get my stuff from GMR out in cali but i figured id call ballistic since they are in tucson and i would have it in a day or two. Ive never had such bad service from a online company. So forwarning to anyone lookin to buy from them. Ill be takin my money to GMR or ruff stuff specialtys next time if not sooner if i dont get a tracking number tonight.

Sorry steve and brian. Ill get this shit straighten out. Steve your welcome to go down there with your pillow case and soap bars at any time :thumb:

 

[MMLMM]

Tatum Motorsports is there in PHX. Have you ever stopped in and talked to them? They should be able to hook you up with all the parts you need for a traction bar setup. They have all kinds of crap like that and sell all kinds of fab parts.

 

[SSchmi5519]

:beer:alcoholic:oke::boxing::laughing4:

 

[Chevy1925]

Yeah ive stopped in a few times but they dont have the johnny joints i wanted. Fodrells motorsports has them but want an arm and leg. Jason at gmr usually sets me up as i was sponsored through them for desert racing but since i quit that he still helps me out, he just doesnt have johnny joints either come to find out

 

[SSchmi5519]

http://www.currieenterprises.com/cestore/johnnyjoints.aspx



??

 

[1lowdiesel]

That sucks man, really no excuse for not changing the order when you called the first time. IMO if they have the parts in stock and still haven't shipped them, i'd push for a discount. They should do whatever it takes to not have you cancel the order. I only ordered from them once and it was pretty smooth. They def shouldn't charge your card for something they don't have in stock though.

 

[Chevy1925]

http://www.currieenterprises.com/cestore/johnnyjoints.aspx



??

those aint as good as the ones i ordered us. ours have a brass race inside to last longer and put up better with the constant compression under load. those derlin/poly bushings have a hard time stayin in place and lasting under our torque lol

That sucks man, really no excuse for not changing the order when you called the first time. IMO if they have the parts in stock and still haven't shipped them, i'd push for a discount. They should do whatever it takes to not have you cancel the order. I only ordered from them once and it was pretty smooth. They def shouldn't charge your card for something they don't have in stock though.

Yeah i dont get it. i let them know how i felt and even gave a big hint to atleast dropping shipping cost. that went no where. oh well, i spend alot on those kinds of fab parts and they lost my business.

 

[MMLMM]

Why not just a heim instead of a johnny joint? Doesn't the johnny joint have a bushing in it?? I would think with the front bushings, having them in the rear would be too much cushion...Gotta be somewhat ridged.

Rear = Heim bolt and 2 plates welded to axle housing
front = round tube with 2 bushing in it, and a bolt thru a c clip type of mount.
Less than $100 bucks in parts each set.

yes/no?

 

[Ridin'GMC]

That blows when you get backordered parts that were never rolled over. I agree with Mike on the bushing in the front and heims in the rear. But the bad part is that the heims will take a beating worse than the bushings will. Your idea sounds pretty great but will it give some slight axle wrap which could cause wheel hopping because of too much cushion?

Just a thought.

 

[05chevy]

Yea that really sucks man sorry to hear that I have used them before and never had a problem but it was just heims I got. Sorry to hear that man hopefully u get ur stuff soon

Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk

 

[Chevy1925]

Why not just a heim instead of a johnny joint? Doesn't the johnny joint have a bushing in it?? I would think with the front bushings, having them in the rear would be too much cushion...Gotta be somewhat ridged.

Rear = Heim bolt and 2 plates welded to axle housing
front = round tube with 2 bushing in it, and a bolt thru a c clip type of mount.
Less than $100 bucks in parts each set.

yes/no?

well heres the setup ive "theoreticly" came up with. the poly bushing at one end (welded on 2" sleeve with the poly bushing inside), its about as stiff as derlin with half the cost but wears a bit faster if you dont grease it. if you keep them greased they seem to last forever. Then i used a johnny joint with brass bushings inside instead of the normal poly or derlin bushing. these are what the big boys in rock crawlin use and are very durable. the normal poly and derlin i have a feelin would squish over time much quicker than the brass races if i used them with the torque we make. Now, you can get hiems cheap but you pay a price. the nylon/teflon well beat out of the cheap hiems very quickly (i know very well from racing and past trucks ive built up). the only ones that last are the teflon/kevlar 30+ dollar ones. But even those have a hard time lasting in our trucks unless you run a large size, specially in a traction bar. Im lookin at the long run and makin something that will last. a 1" hiem inplace of the johnny joint would maybe last 30k +or- a few thousand miles. a 2.63" johnny joint which is wider and uses brass instead fo teh teflon/kevlar, in my best guess would last 50k under the same circumstances and kept full of grease. Plus, the johnny joint is servicable, adjsutable (should some play be found in it), and only cost 13 bucks to put bushings in it per side. the hiem is not servicable and cost twice as much.

I can see what you mean that the bushing may give some wheel hop due to it allowing some movement but if that were the case, my samurai rock crawler which uses a poly bushing at one end on the frame and y's off to two points on the axle and is solidly bolted (no bushing or heims, jsut bolts and tube) with a slip yoke in the center gives me no wheel hop and ive beat the hell out of it too. So i would think the little movent there is will be so miniscual that it wont affect our trucks.

this is my best thinking in making something that could last and is servicable for a decent price. Im also using 1 1/4" .120 wall chromoly tube which may seem small to you guys but unless your rest the whole truck on that one bar, your hard pressed to bend that tubing.

 

[SSchmi5519]

I want a little cushion. I know how friction works and that will be the superior design.

 

[Chevy1925]

I want a little cushion. I know how friction works and that will be the superior design.

Yup. but it should all be in the bushing, not the johnny joint.

 

[SSchmi5519]

Yup. but it should all be in the bushing, not the johnny joint.

And if there is extra in the Johnny it won't be more than an 1/8".

Not a notable amount of movement in this area, compared to the movement currently.

EDIT: Watch the driveshaft.

[YOUTUBE]8nz4ZxCZpW0[/YOUTUBE]

 

[hondarider552]

No biggie James, I still need to get an alignment and notch my frame before th etraction bars.

Still sucks though, Steve, go woop some ass, your closest.

 

[Chevy1925]

And if there is extra in the Johnny it won't be more than an 1/8".

Not a notable amount of movement in this area, compared to the movement currently.

EDIT: Watch the driveshaft.

[YOUTUBE]8nz4ZxCZpW0[/YOUTUBE]

haha i dont even wanna know what mine looks like now

No biggie James, I still need to get an alignment and notch my frame before th etraction bars.

Still sucks though, Steve, go woop some ass, your closest.

sounds good brian. BTW, the 29/30th is good for me unless there is somehting i completely forgot to put down. Got my tracking number so everyhting should be here in two day (atleast) and ill build the first set this weekend or later this week. anxious to see how much more tight the rear end will be under accel

 

[hondarider552]

29/30th will work for me, that will be enough time for notch and bed back on lol.

about time you got a tracking number, fawk! I cant wait for the new bars as well, I was sick with my caltracs, but need to figure out how were gunna hang them..

 

[MMLMM]

I want a little cushion. I know how friction works and that will be the superior design.

yes a little cushion...but over do it, and you are eliminating the the point of the traction bar

I have almost 70k on my traction bars, and the heims and joints are still tight as the day they were installed. They are not worn or wollered out. The bushings are still tight as new. The same setup is on another truck and have been for over 100k miles...same deal. Plus this setup has been on hundreds of other diesel trucks for years.

And both of our trucks are putting plenty of torque and hp down.

I just giving you my experience. Hundreds of others have ran th same setup for years. Nothing wrong with coming up with your own idea, but if you want to save some money and go with a sure thing, thats what I provided.

 

[Chevy1925]

yes a little cushion...but over do it, and you are eliminating the the point of the traction bar

I have almost 70k on my traction bars, and the heims and joints are still tight as the day they were installed. They are not worn or wollered out. The bushings are still tight as new. The same setup is on another truck and have been for over 100k miles...same deal. Plus this setup has been on hundreds of other diesel trucks for years.

And both of our trucks are putting plenty of torque and hp down.

I just giving you my experience. Hundreds of others have ran th same setup for years. Nothing wrong with coming up with your own idea, but if you want to save some money and go with a sure thing, thats what I provided.

oh absolutely. i know lots of others have done it the way you have but i just dont like heims. In my experience, they just dont last in a DD situation whether it be a traction bar, steering set up or run for suspension mounting (granted those are all different situations and have different loads). To me, this way is a sure thing.

 

[MMLMM]

oh absolutely. i know lots of others have done it the way you have but i just dont like heims. In my experience, they just dont last in a DD situation whether it be a traction bar, steering set up or run for suspension mounting (granted those are all different situations and have different loads). To me, this way is a sure thing.

:thumb: Post pictures too mang.